Back in May 2012 we ran a poll about broadband speeds that received over sixteen hundred responses. The poll asked people what their broadband speeds were at peak and off-peak times, and also whether the speeds they get are in line with estimates given at the time they signed up to their broadband service.

The graph shows a good correlation with the recent Ofcom speed results, that declared the UK had an average speed of 9 Mbps. The key thing for the UK broadband picture will be whether the main peak can move further along the x-axis to the right in the next couple of years. The difference between peak and off-peak speeds was smaller than we expected.

The second speed spike at 30 Mbps, will largely be down to people subscribing to the VDSL2 and cable broadband packages, and given the way that VDSL2 performs it is most likely that we will see this spike increase in size as VDSL2 take-up increases, leaving a trough in the 16 to 20 Mbps area. 12.2% of the respondents were on a 50 Mbps or faster service, and while upgrades and FTTP roll-outs will increase this, the realities of VDSL2 premises to cabinet speed limits mean the 80 Mbps headline of VDSL2 is unlikely to make a massive dent.

On the subject of the Ofcom Speeds Code of Practice, our visitors had the following to say:

Did the speed estimate you received at signup reasonably match your actual experience? Yes 51.69% No 30.13% Did not receive an estimate 11.77% Do not remember my estimate 6.41%

Just over half those taking part in the poll were given an estimate and are happy it matches their speeds. A large 30% still received an estimate that they are not happy with, so it seems accuracy of data for sales staff still needs work. In the last year or two the data available has improved, mainly because Openreach has adopted a conservative approach to its VDSL2 estimates. The figure of 12% not being given an estimate is of concern, as this means people may be signing up based on advertised speeds, which by their nature are generally very different to what any individual will receive.

We will run this poll again periodically, as it will help track the UK progress towards our newly acquired aim of being the the fastest broadband country among the major European countries.